Take the City by Storm
by Internal Serketry
Summary: Monochrome City: famous for its unique system of government in which the rich rule the city and its luxury. This city is also famous for its underworld, being rumored as "the most sinful city in the world". The challenges a young heiress faces are as follows. Will she rise up and achieve fame, or will she fall into what was her mother's success? It's all her choice.
1. Chapter 1

Where does human decency go when people get desperate? What's the final straw that drives a person to treat another as an object, a means of making a living, something they can use and then throw away?

For a Miss Vriska Serket, these questions held no significance to her life. She was content wallowing in the filth of her past, present, and future. As an heir to one of the most influential empires in Monochrome City, she had to have a few stains here and there, as it was a well-known but unspoken of requirement of all heads of the city.

Vriska had enough of dirt to go around. She had hit all the bigger ones—drug dealing, prostitution, and stealing everything she could—and this set her higher on the ranks than other powers. She was ambitious, the spitting image of her mother down to the way she pleased a man and the way she took her black lotus.

At 19 years old, the heir and current leader of Webworks Alcohol Industry had the underground of Monochrome wrapped around her finger. She was doing so well at such a young age, though everyone wanted to destroy her unholy empire. She couldn't give a damn. She wasn't going down without a fight, and everyone knew not to mess with the Serkets…or rather, the only Serket still alive as far as was known.

Vriska leaned back in her office chair and sighed happily, reflecting fondly on her recent accomplishments of taking down a ring of people attempting a revolution in the company and leading the police off her trail for a while. Her missing mother would have been so proud of her, and it was obvious she was a better choice to inherit the organization than her respectable (and quite frankly, boring) older sister.

"Equius, what are my plans for today? I'd like to know how long this moment of freedom will last," Vriska asked, shutting her eyes and throwing her head up to the ceiling.

Her assistant cleared his throat before speaking. "You've completed everything, almost. You have more work to do tonight to make up for the quota you lost last night in the gun fight, which I'm going to assume makes you highly angry."

"Damn right! Makara's go parole for me on Fridays!" She exclaimed as she snapped up to glare at her right hand man. Equius said nothing and stared back, his tight expression not changing. "You know they'll find me and I'll have to run to some other section and lose even more."

He blinked through broken sunglasses and put his hands in his pockets with a shrug. "It's _your_ money you're losing. If you want to take a night and triple your quota, that doesn't concern me."

Vriska groaned loudly and crossed her arms. He was right and she knew it. She absolutely hated how Equius always knew just what to say when she started getting overly cautious. "You know what? Fine. I'll go out tonight and risk getting captured," she grumbled.

"Now that's the spirit. You'll be out by eight and back whenever you've met your deal?"

"I guess." Vriska never felt more unmotivated to whore herself out for money. She adored money and the thought of getting it again didn't fix a thing about the situation. Still, she did it for her missing mother. It was the only way to keep up the standing of Webworks, and the only way for the teen to prove herself in such a dangerous society.


	2. Chapter 2

Vriska collected her cash from the desperate sleaze and added it to the stack she had been collecting in her purse. It was a small addition, but it didn't hurt any. She adjusted her mini skirt so it covered most of her ass and leaned against the wall, staring to the sky with a sigh. She was now impossibly tired from pleasing four men that night, and it was only 11. She still had at least five hours left to meet her day's payment and make up for last night, and she was only a quarter of the way done.

Another sigh escaped her lips and Vriska started walking off to another alley; this one was too empty, with only a few filthy poor roaming for any piece of money they could find, and Vriska really didn't want to be "charitable" and service the misfortunate. She blinked at the bright lights from strip clubs around, each run by the Makara's, no doubt. God damn purple bloods, always thinking they could run her out of business.

Vriska felt a hand on her shoulder, drawing her from her state in her mind. She turned on her heel to face the person who was probably looking to buy her for a short amount of time, but realized it was a terrible idea after fully seeing who it was and after she recognized the face.

Kurloz, heir to the Makara Empire, was standing there. She was in his territory now and there were probably guards everywhere to keep him secure. This was exactly what she needed tonight. As if she couldn't become any more worn out, now she had to flee for her life? Why not; it wasn't like anything else could possibly go wrong!

Vriska whipped around and tore off down the sidewalk, pushing civilians out of the way as she went. Kurloz was in hot pursuit, especially with her heels slowing her down. She was used to the things, but they were still a detriment to her speed and with him in violet tennis shoes, things weren't looking up. The only diversions she could create were picking innocent people and tossing them down in front of Kurloz.

She increased her pace wherever was possible, until she was sure she was far enough away to start slowing down. She neared a street corner, no longer hearing his footsteps behind her. She could finally take a break from this idiotic game of chase with this boy.

That was, until she noticed the pointed red oval glasses and shark-toothed grin from just a few feet away from the streetlamp. Really, why did she always have to test fate with asking things like "What could possibly go wrong?" Vriska couldn't believe how bad her luck had been tonight. All this action and drama over the course of ten minutes, maximum.

Vriska decided things could only go worse from this point on, so she decided to take a risk with the new chaser that had entered the picture. She ran forward faster than before and gripped at the pole, turning around and running towards Kurloz's direction. It was better than facing Terezi Pyrope, police chief in-training. She heard Terezi's annoyingly eerie giggles coming from behind her at close range, which only drove Vriska to flee faster. Her feet were aching from all the pressure of running so fast, but it was more bearable than what could have happened had she been captured by either force.

She was sure she had flown by Kurloz at this point, but she couldn't know. The only thing on her mind was escaping Terezi and the law. She was starting to get short of breath, her trashy outfit was clinging to her due to sweat, and her legs were hot with aching pain. There was no way she'd be able to run half a mile to her manor at this rate. She would faint from exhaustion or be taken hostage, and either option seemed horrid.

A warm hand grabbed at her arm and pulled her far to the right, to a much darker area that Vriska wouldn't have noticed had she kept running. She collapsed into the arms of whoever had either just saved her or made her fate worse, not caring if he was going to kill her or mug her at this point. The other person lifted her up by the torso so she was standing on her feet, just barely. Her head was spinning and she couldn't catch her breath, but she managed to turn to face the other.

He was young, her age for sure, with hair pulled into two ponytails and a feminine yet also razor sharp face. He had thick glasses and his outfit looked something like a strippers, with heels, a tube top, a skirt, thigh highs, and arm bands. His hips were clearly a young man's, but he was able to pass off as a girl to the dizzy or intoxicated eye. "Listen, you shouldn't be running in those heels. You'll kill yourself," he said with a posh accent.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just being chased by a cop and a master pimp's son," Vriska replied, a venomous bite under her words. "But thanks for saving me. I really appreciate it," she followed up with to not seem like a total bitch.

"Don't mention it. Also, take this. Whore to whore." He pulled a large stack of bills from the side of his tube top and passed it to Vriska quickly. After thumbing through it, she gasped in shock. It was the perfect amount for her to meet her deadline, and the quota for the next day as well.

"Wait, who are—"

"No time for questions," the boy said curtly and pushed past her. "I'm making you a diversion because you're pretty." He jogged into the streets just as Terezi and Kurloz appeared on the cusp of the entrance to the alley and the boy drew their attention from where Vriska was hiding. The three stood in silence, the only noise being the hum of city of life. They boy wandered into the empty street and pulled his skirt up, shocking everyone watching.

"That's public indecency! I'm taking you downtown!" Terezi shouted as she rushed to stop his antics. Kurloz darted into a local club, no doubt going into hiding. The boy ran off a direction away from the way Vriska took to go home, with Terezi following in hot pursuit and screaming into a walkie talkie for a couple members of backup.

For a moment, Vriska did nothing but stand there, trying to make sense of what had just happened. She escaped Kurloz, only to be followed by Terezi, and then she was saved by an attractive guy who gave her a ton of cash. She took a glance at her phone; the digital clock read 11:30. All that just happened in thirty minutes.

With the air knocked out of her, Vriska walked up the half mile to her mansion, her mind swimming in the rush of adrenaline. Certainly not an ordinary night, by any standards. How many times did a cute boy give her money and flash himself to a cop and an heir to save her life? She'd never been met with that kind of kindness before while she worked the night shift.

Vriska trudged up the stairs to her bedroom and sat on the bed, kicking off the platform shoes and letting them go askew onto the floor. She peeled her clothes off and threw them into a pile in the corner as she made a mental note to clean those up tomorrow. Vriska pulled a silk robe from her closet, loosely tying it in front and lying down in her plush bed under black and blue sheets.

Alone with her thoughts, she debated trying to find that boy again. He seemed rich like her, maybe they'd get along fabulously. She might have even earned a new ally in the underground. But for right now, all Vriska could focus on was how warm the blankets were and how soft the pillow felt on her face. She was lulled into sleep, hoping not to wake until late the next morning.


	3. Chapter 3

A perfectly generic day followed: Vriska went around her company, checking off on production of meth, heroine, marijuana, cocaine, LSD, spiked alcohol...the usual. Sales were up on her own blended drug of Black Lotus, imported from associates in the Sahara Desert. A drug created by her mother, the petals of the flower were hallucinatory and gave spikes in energy, not to mention it lied under police searches and made the minds of the users more susceptible to mind control. It was her mother's greatest discovery, and she wanted to keep the thing alive while she could.  
"How are the meth labs going?" She asked Equius over a 5 minute break.  
"...I believe they are under quota," he replied as he glanced over a clipboard in hand. "Would you request a meeting with them?"  
"Damn right I am! Captor!" Vriska yelled sharply and slammed the door open, her voice and the sudden banging of the door breaking the concentrated air of the lab. "You better be making that quota! I need that done by six o'clock tonight and if it's not finished, it's coming out of your already shitty pay!"  
"Well, someone's in a mood," Sollux muttered as he swirled liquid around in a vile. "Clearly you didn't come to nag me about this. What do you want, oh high and mighty mistress?" He asked.  
Vriska slammed her hands on the table he was working at. "Watch what you say, I might just fire you," she said through clenched teeth, her eyes burning with controlled fury. "I need you to pick up the slack of your fellows!" She annunciated the last phrase, looking out to the other scientists, who only trembled in her presence. "Or else everyone here gets framed and jailed."  
"What a shame that would be. Living in jail, away from the clutches of the girl who murdered her—"  
Vriska yanked Sollux by the collar inches from her face. He blinked in surprise behind red and blue glasses, but said nothing, only waited for her to speak. "You're not supposed to talk about that, didn't I make that clear? I gave you everything. You were a lowly, pathetic life form, and I got you to where you are. So, you listen to me, and you stop with the fucking remarks and bringing up what I told you never to. You hear me?"  
"Whatever you say, Miss Mindfang, whatever my dad signed up for," Sollux said with a slight gulp. Vriska threw him to the ground and he landed with a gentle thudding and a groan of pain.  
"Madam, I'd like to inform you of something," Equius said, drawing both Vriska and Sollux's attention. "You have a gala tonight for another milestone in profits. I'd recommend you begin preparations soon; it begins in a few hours and you must greet people."  
Vriska glanced over at Sollux on the floor, suddenly gaining her trademark wicked smirk. "Captor, for your sarcastic and bitter comments, you're working security and cleanup crew," she said lightly, almost sickeningly happy. "You're also lucky I have to get ready, otherwise you'd face serious punishment. You'd better be done this and dressed properly for this event otherwise you're not paid for 2 weeks. That goes for all of you!" She turned away and followed Equius out to her private quarters, leaving the scientists in silence.


End file.
